Jimmy Eat World at Rock City

Here at The Tab, we like what some people might call ‘simple things’. We like ridiculous videos. We love puns. Hell, we even enjoy laughing at posh boys’ genitalia.

Happily, things don’t come much more majestically simple than American rockers Jimmy Eat World.

Rarely straying from their perfectly formulated template of sub-three-minute pop-punk anthems throughout their mammoth twenty-three song set, JEW were clearly a band after The Tab’s simple heart.

Sometimes, I wake up in a cold sweat at night, wondering what I would do if bands today didn’t have Instagram @jimmyeatworld #regram

Case in point: last night’s titanic closer The Middle (aka ‘The One Everyone Knows’). With its instantly recognisable opening riff, infectious tempo and obscenely catchy chorus, the band’s most commercially successful single was certainly memorable.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIa_ky8aLq4[/youtube]

Other highlights include Zach Lind’s inventive and unbelievably tight drumming on tracks like Your New Aesthetic and reworked crowd favourite Kill, as well as guitarist Tom Linton’s harmonies with lead vocalist Jimmy Adkins on stomping opener A Praise Chorus and 1999 breakthrough single Lucky Denver Mint.

Complimenting these pop-rock classics were the chilled out ballads Hear You Me and For Me This Is Heaven, the latter performed by Adkins with only his acoustic guitar for company on stage.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0cAL_DTZDM&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

The undoubted crowning glory to Jimmy’s monumental set, however, came in the shape of seven minute epic 23. Towering above all else, Adkins’ earnest anxiety is palpable as the song reaches its peak, with lyrics such as “You’ll sit alone forever if you wait for the right time” providing plenty of sing along moments.

If there was any downside, it came from a slightly sluggish crowd. Only intermittently showing enthusiasm, a few of the spectators didn’t really seem to be enjoying themselves: their loss.